


The grasp of hope

by Valjinic



Category: Plague Tale: Innocence (Video Game)
Genre: Cliffhanger Warning, Drama & Romance, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Worry, happy end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-05-28 13:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19394896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valjinic/pseuds/Valjinic
Summary: It's been a week since Vitalis' cruel plan has been defeated and the remaining group was able to find a home once more. Melie has decided to stay with Amicia and the rest of the group after a fateful conversation, but she can't push upcoming worries back for too long. What will she do to deal with her worries? And... will she really be able to execute her plan or will another path open up for her?





	1. The morning

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characters (except for the lovely old woman) are not mine but Asobo studios property. But I’m always happy to borrow these wonderful characters.
> 
> Another piece of work by me and another piece of work to give you guys more content to make you happy! So hopefully you'll enjoy your reading experiences, tell me what you think about it~

** The grasp of hope **

_La saisie d'espoir  
_

Birds were chirping merrily on this early morning, a supposedly unusual sound after the Bite has still been raging just a week ago. The people who survived this catastrophe were still in shock, most of them still not able to believe that it really was over now. And so the soft chirping of the birds as the first rays of sunlight hit the surface was a very welcomed change for everyone; a sign of rising hope for some and a motivation to start a normal routine in life again.

But not everyone was about to go back to their old life again; some had to adapt to a new way of living or voluntarily grasped the chance of change.

One of those people was Melie, who was awaken by sunbeams shining through the window as the sun began to rise, announcing the start of the day at 6 am with it. She groaned and squinted slightly as she carefully pressed her face into the bed, not wanting to wake up yet. But that try was in vain; realizing that she won’t be able to sleep more, she let out a quiet huff and turned her head around to face the, in her eyes quite mean, window instead of the bed’s mattress.

This sleep being the most peaceful and comfortable she had since she could remember was what made her feel rather grumpy about waking up. Wishing that she could have stayed asleep forever just to stay on this comfortable bed made the thief realize where exactly she was sleeping; and why she was. It was thanks to Amicia. The thief stayed with the young, noble woman after the fight against Vitalis was won. A soft blush crept on the redhead’s cheeks as she thought back to the reason of her stay:

_ **Flashback:** _

_Melie was watching the scene in front of her with an overwhelming mixture of emotions. There he lied, the man who was responsible for her twin’s death, in the end killed by his own weapon under Hugo’s control. The rage and craving for revenge that she felt before suddenly vanished at the sight of his dead body and were replaced by a feeling of emptiness. Now that she got her revenge, the one thing that fueled her and motivated her to keep on walking forward, she was facing the realization of an empty life without a goal. She was so focused on avenging Arthur’s death that she didn’t think of the future until now, of what she would now do without him._

‘ _The future has to wait a bit longer’ was what she told herself a few seconds later when she hurried over to Beatrice De Rune, who was about to collapse, to support her standing. Even if she’ll have to think about what to do sooner or later, now it was more important to take care of the current situation and its people, beginning at Lucas who already thought about a mixture to strengthen Beatrice, over to said woman and ending at the two siblings, Amicia and Hugo, who hugged each other tightly in shock and dawning realization of the hell finally being over._

_Melie’s eyes were locked at the sight of the exhausted Amicia, whose eyes were closed as she tried to calm her breathing and pulled Hugo closer to herself. The thief watched the two siblings with a mixture of worry and an aching sting of envy. But the latter disappeared in a matter of seconds, she was more glad about the two being alive and not having to go through the same pain she was going through now than to envy the luck they had. At least that was what she told herself so; and it was true, the painful loss just clouded her thinking and it took her a bit to regain the control over her mind. Several minutes of silence passed until the thief decided to break it: “Hugo? Amicia? D’you need anything or are you two alright?”_

_Those words made Amicia blink at first, as if she was pulled out of a trance by them, before she shook her head and looked over to the group “Ah no, don’t worry… we didn’t get injured too badly.”_

_Both, Melie and Beatrice, let out a sigh of relief at that response and the latter whispered barely audible: “It’s over… it’s finally over...”_

_Lucas, who faintly heard her words, nodded slowly and sighed as well: “It’s hard to believe that it’s really done now… and that it’s not just a break like it was before.” He looked around in the room, especially eyeing the two siblings before looking back at the weak alchemist: “But I think that we should leave this place now… Lady De Rune needs her wounds to be treated and a lot of rest, just like everyone else of us. And we can’t stay here too…”_

_Everyone nodded in agreement and slowly left the doomed place, careful to support Beatrice walking so that she didn’t get any more strained._

* * *

_The group found the still intact ruin of an inn nearby, and luckily Lucas found herbs and other things he needed in an alchemist cart across the street so they agreed on staying there for at least the following day. Just like Lucas recommended, the group headed to sleep once Beatrice’s wounds were treated for the first of many times and after they all sat together to try and grasp what happened._

_But the thief couldn’t even think about sleeping and so she quietly sneaked out of the front door, not planning to leave but just to sit down on the street, being thankful for the cold but calm night breeze, which is said to help clearing one’s mind. She thought back to everything that happened, her mind getting stuck around two things, or rather two persons. The first of course being her brother and his death. Her heart ached at the image of how he lied lifeless on the ground and she felt the need to cry out in a way to realize the upcoming pain. She didn’t cry out; instead she found herself busy with the dreaded question of what to do now. And while the redhead thought about the possibilities, the second person in her mind gained a more important role in her upcoming plans._

“ _Amicia…” Melie didn’t notice how the whispered name left her lips, nor how the door was quietly opened mere seconds ago and how a certain person silently listened to the barely audible whisper due to being deeply lost in her thoughts. Only when that person carefully put a hand on the thief’s shoulder after a few moments of silence, said thief winced slightly and quickly turned her head around to look into the worried face of the noble girl._

“ _I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you… but you’ve been rather quiet since the moment Vitalis was defeated… and I wanted to check up on you- seeing if you’re alright after… you know…” A soft but concerned smile appeared on Amicia’s lips and she slowly sat down next to Melie, who faintly blushed at the worry of Amicia having heard her whispering her name; the appearing sadness dominating over the embarrassment though when Amicia mentioned Arthur’s death._

“ _No no… was just thinking. About him… and what to do now, y’know?” Melie didn’t understand why she immediately opened up to Amicia and told her what was genuinely on her mind, but she didn’t question it, nor did she want to question this as well now next to all the other things on her mind._

_Amicia nodded slowly, showing that she understood what Melie meant, but not being sure about how to properly answer so she remained quiet. And so did Melie; she too was now silent as her mind wandered off once more._

_So both girls were quiet for several minutes until Amicia hesitatingly began to speak again: “So… uhm- may I ask… if you have anything in mind…?”_

_Melie sighed quietly and shook her head “No- nothing… I just- don’t know,” she paused for a bit before continuing, getting quieter at the end until it was just a soft mumbling, “I’m not sure what to do… I wanna stay here, with you… and the others, you grew close to me… but I don’t know if I can take it, ya know? ‘Cos everything reminds me of Arthur, how he’s not here anymore… and how he was killed...” Once she was finished letting her current thoughts out, her head found Amicia’s shoulder as she seemed to basically collapse from all her worries. And Amicia carefully put an arm around the thief while leaning her own head against the other girl’s in an attempt to give the thief some sort of comfort._

“ _In the end… you decide what is best for you, and that is the most important too… to do what helps you. But I can’t deny that I would miss you more than a lot if you would decide for leaving,” Amicia mumbled softly while leaning against the thief, her free hand searching for one of Melie’s. And once her hand grasped the thief’s, she carefully squeezed it before continuing: “Even though I’d do that, I would still support you to the fullest and wish you the very best, just like I would if you decide to stay with m- with us. No matter for what you decide, it’ll be the best for you I know…”_

_Melie couldn’t help but to smile softly at Amicia’s words, feeling deeply honored and flustered by the care of her: “You’re always there for me… no matter what happens. You’re damn kind to me, y’know that?”_

“ _Of course I am,” the brunette let out a soft laugh, “B-because I really care about you and your well-being… deeply care about it” but mumbled more the closer she got to admitting her true feelings until she failed to word a full sentence._

“ _Caring deeply about me…” Melie blinked and whispered it to herself, not really noticing the quiet nod from Amicia, who now was silently thinking about what she just said._

_While the noble girl did want to continue talking and confess to the redhead next to her, she just couldn’t bring herself to it. She was refusing to tell Melie about her feelings, thinking that it wouldn’t be right of her to do so while Melie’s still grieving about her brother and to possibly influence her decision on staying or leaving with her confession._

_But Amicia didn’t even need to take the first step into that direction. It was Melie who started to whisper after minutes of silence: “Y’know… I care a damn lot about you too.. you’re- probably the most important living person to me. That’s why I don’t really wanna leave, it would be like losing you… and I don’t think it’d be worth being away from this place.”_

_Amicia started to blush at hearing that the thief cared just as much about her in return, but her eyes widened slightly at hearing about being the only reason of a possible stay: “But Melie… are you sure about that? I- I don’t want you to stay for me if leaving from here would turn out to be what you should have chosen-”_

_She couldn’t question it any more though, because she was politely interrupted by a soft nudge from the thief, who nodded slightly confident at her when she turned her head to face Melie. Said thief started speaking at that moment; her blush increasing more through her confession:_ “ _Yeah- I’m more than sure about it. ‘Cos… I do have feelings for ya which are way more than just caring… and I think it’s safe to say that those feelings are called love. Over the time we spent together- I really fell in love with you. So… leaving would most likely hurt more. ‘Cos… now that I think ‘bout it, I probably wouldn’t get a clear head from being away from the memories with Arthur. They’d just hit more and then on top leaving you behind… no. Wouldn’t be better.”_

_Melie was honestly not even sure where she was heading with her speech after she confessed. Once the hardest piece, the confession, left her mouth, it was like a plug vanished and suddenly she found herself letting everything out that was on her mind, even the rather confusing train of argumentation against leaving. And she prayed that Amicia still understood what she meant to say._

_Much to the thief’s relief, the noble girl got a bright smile and blush on her face once she seemed to have grasped the fact that Melie confessed her feelings to her:_ “ _I fell in love with you too, Melie-”_

_Those words were enough to make Melie smile widely and to let her mind practically spin, so it took her every bit of willpower to listen to the rest of Amicia’s sentence instead of immediately crushing her in a tight hug…_

_ **Flashback end** _

Melie got a huge smile again when she thought back to the moment where they confessed to each other, a blush joining her smile as she thought of their tender first kiss following after it. Not even realizing that she was lost in that happy memory since minutes, instead she found herself feeling happy and relieved about the outcome. She remembered the following morning as well, when Lucas suggested to visit the De Rune’s estate to grab the leftover potions before they would all start to travel in a search for a new place to live.

But no one would have guessed that they could actually live there again. Hugo coincidentally bumped against the hardened black secrete of the rats, breaking it in the process and revealing that the substance beneath it looked as good as new. The thief also remembered how the group then proceeded to destroy more of the secrete, in the end even with the help of some villagers, to try and free the entire estate. It was a lot of work, but worth it at last. Because as everyone then found out, the secrete was simply a loose sediment above the surface of whatever it covered and therefore leaving that surface entire unharmed, except for any windows or similar that it broke through. It also dried out once the rats disappeared so that it was easy to remove.

And since then Melie stayed with Lucas and the De Rune’s at their house, all of them being visibly relieved of returning to their beloved home and not having to search for something unknown.

The redhead had to admit that she liked that estate as well and could understand why the others were so glad about it; it was different from everything she saw before and in a way it was something new and unknown to her like it would have been if she traveled away. It was just another reason why she was more than glad about deciding in favor of Amicia and staying with her instead of leaving.

Thinking once more about her made Melie carefully turn around to face the other side of her, where Amicia was still sleeping peacefully.

They were able to fully live in the estate since a few days and even though the thief has been sleeping next to Amicia every day since then, she still couldn’t help but to feel amazed by the view of the sleeping girl next to her and fact that someone noble like Amicia would really love her and want to be with her.

But every time she thought about the joy and luck she had now, there was a dark thought creeping up. And every time she thought about it, she made herself upset with it as she couldn’t help but to think that it was true. Until now she always pushed that thought back once her lover woke up, the upcoming worry immediately being replaced by endless joy when the brunette showed her a bright smile.

Now was one of those moments again where Melie kept on thinking, and this time Amicia was still asleep, so Melie automatically thought more about it while she watched the noble girl with a small smile. Said smile turned into an upset one as she thought about the difference between them and she let out a soft sigh, followed by a barely audible whisper: “Am I really the right one for you…?”

That was the thought, which haunted her since the group has arrived at the estate. The thief’s mind kept on reminding her about their class differences, which she was able to shrug of as not important, but the moment her mind brought up _‘You’re just a thief, how could you ever make her truly happy?’_ was the moment where she started to think about that, worrying that she indeed couldn’t give her everything that she deserved.

“I wonder… Am I good enough for you…?” Melie bit her lip when a sob threatened to escape her mouth and she turned her head to look down on the mattress instead of the beautiful face in front of her, “What if not-”

She was silent for several minutes, her mind deeply clouded by all the upcoming worries and the fatal thought which made her sigh and look at Amicia once more.

“I- I’m sorry Amicia…” Again she whispered so quietly that it wasn’t audible for anyone but herself before she carefully sat up. Her movements being as slow and quiet as possible to not wake the sleeping girl up.

Melie looked back at the bed once she was standing, the view of Amicia’s soft smile making her hesitate to continue moving. Her mind started to clear up a bit and she began to doubt that she has decided for the right thing, but the worrying thought _‘What if you’re going to upset her_ _with staying..._ _not able to_ _give her what she deserves?’_ was enough to cloud her mind once more and make her sneak silently but quickly out of the room, leaving her lover behind without another looking back; she knew that she couldn’t bear to leave then.

**_~To be continued~_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I was sorry for this cliffhanger- but I honestly am not.
> 
> But do not worry! I promise that it'll get happy and won't end like this~


	2. The housekeeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is heavily centered about an OC, an old and kind woman who works as a housekeeper. At the end of this chapter I'll explain the reason.  
> In any way, enjoy your stay~

**La saisie d'espoir/ The grasp of hope**

_The housekeeper  
_

The thief managed to stay silent the whole time she was sneaking through the upper level of the estate. Much to her disadvantage, the size of this house and therefore the walk through it was long enough to make her think and getting lost in those thoughts once she was down the stairs. As she was walking slowly through the ground level she carefully leaned against the walls, almost as if she’d use them as a hiding spot in case someone was walking by.

It was a good plan and would have worked out if she wasn’t lost in her thoughts. Because due to not paying any attention to her surroundings she didn’t hear the soft hum coming from the kitchen, which should have made her alarmed and maybe search for a different way.

But the thief continued walking slowly in that direction, the noise of her hand trailing the stone wall made the person in the kitchen stop humming and turn around to face the source of noise: “An early riser as I see, eh?” Said person shook her head in amusement and started laughing, making the thief jump slightly, now being pulled out of her thoughts, and gasp at being caught.

“I-” Melie stared at the person in front of her, who turned out to be the old but friendly lady the group met while freeing the house and who now worked as a housekeeper and servant for the De Rune’s.

_ ‘Shit.’ _ Was all that went through Melie’s mind at the moment, being caught off guard and not knowing how to respond. But before she could think of something to say or to just start running without another word, the old woman laughed again and waved her hand at Melie, inviting her to join her at the cattle.

“C’mere, young lady. Ya can help me with preparing today’s meal if yer already here.”

Melie didn’t exactly know why she followed the invitation and sat down on a simple wooden stool next to the fireplace on which a stew broiled in the cattle, but she did and now was watching the housekeeper cutting some vegetables. It took the thief a few seconds to regain her voice and all she was able to let out was a: “Not sure if you should call me a lady, ma'am. I ain’t one.”

The old woman only laughed softly in response before she showed her a gentle smile: “Usually women’re flustered at being called a lady even if it ain’t suitable for them. But you and the little lady are courtin’ each other, yes? It indeed makes yer suitable for the title, in the future for sure at least.”

“Uhm...” The red haired girl looked down at the mentioning of her and Amicia being a couple and sighed, reminded of what she was about to do.

She didn’t have to think of more as a response because the housekeeper noticed her reaction and therefore something being wrong: “Something has yer stirred up I see?”

Melie gasped quietly and blinked as her head shot up to face the old woman, being more than surprised at how she could tell. But she didn’t have time to question her about it and she blinked again when the woman simply dumped a sack of potatoes and two wooden bowls in front of her. The older spoke once more as she was handing the young thief a flat knife: “Talk, my child. About what has made yer heart so heavy. And talkin’ gets easier when you’re doin’ something, like being productive.”

The thief was hesitant about opening up to the kind housekeeper, remembering how she often heard old women spreading every bit of gossip, and she really didn’t want this to spread around: “Sure that ya wouldn’t gossip it around, madame? We all know that it’d be nice to share what the young De Rune’s girlfriend worries about, eh?”

Immediately after letting those words out, the thief already regretted her choice of words, knowing that it really wasn’t necessary to be so rude: “Ah shit- uh- I didn’t mean to-”

But the old women interrupted her with a soft laugh and waving it off: “Don’t you apologize, young lady. Ya can’t be too careful enough nowadays, saw it with my own old eyes. But my lips will remain closed, don’tcha worry.”

Melie still felt more than uncertain about being honest, but she guessed that it would be better to share that worry and to ease its weight through this than to keep it forever. And in a way this old lady did radiate trustworthiness off, which eased her to speak in a low voice, noticeably a bit ashamed as she took care of the first potato while letting her deepest worries out: “I...I-” Her voice failed her at first and she looked down on the ground once more, only able to continue in an even quieter tone when she felt the housekeepers hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to try talking again: “I… I don’t think that I’m good enough for Amicia… She- she’s just so damn wonderful in every way, there’s nothing you can’t love about her, even when she’s kinda childish… ‘ts still cute. And- and she’s rich, a knight’s daughter…”

Melie’s hesitation fully faded away as she started speaking and soon she didn’t whisper anymore, even though her voice was still drowned in uncertainty: “And I- ‘m a lousy thief in comparison. Hell- I can’t and couldn’t ever give her what she deserves, all the fancy stuff ya know? I can’t give her that or any other good thing she is used to, so she’d probably get upset about being with me… and I don’t want her to get upset-”

While Melie was speaking, the housekeeper only shook her head as a response, but still keeping her soft, motherly smile as she thought about the problems the youth had in relationships. That soft smile only faded when Melie came to her last part, about what she was about to do: “Hell I couldn’t stand her being upset… and me being the reason for it. So- I wanted to leave… it probably sounds weird- but maybe she’ll forget about me and can get the happy and wealthy life she deserves-”

_ smack! _

Without hesitation and without waiting for the younger woman to finish talking, the old housekeeper shook her head and lightly smacked the back of Melie’s head while scolding her, her motherly care never really leaving her voice or actions: “What a foolish thing to believe! Love doesn’t die, young lady. The only thing you’d do with leaving would be to break both of yer hearts. More than if ya stay and ya two would realize years later that ya don’t fit and would peacefully part.”

Melie was about to puff her cheeks out and complain about the smack on her head, but didn’t want to be rude again so she decided to wait until the housekeeper was finished speaking. Her idea of complaining afterwards completely vanished though when the housekeeper brought up an interesting point. That was when said old woman continued cutting vegetables; before that, while she was still talking, she turned around to get back to work while gladly taking the few potatoes that Melie peeled off while letting her heart out: “Besides- I think ya by her side is the best thing to happen, n’ the best fate the little lady could’ve wished for.”

That sentence was what caught Melie’s attention and made her tilt her head at the housekeeper: “Wh-what d’you mean by that? Best fate for her?”

At first the older woman only chuckled softly while working, only a few moments later she spoke with an amused tone in her voice: “Ya need to know- I know the little Amicia since she’s born. I’ve worked for this family till the first year of the little boy. And she’s always been quite the adventurous ‘n stubborn minded, ya know?”

The soft laugh she let out at the end also made Melie laugh; the thief really could perfectly picture Amicia being like that as a child: “She never got rid of that then. But how comes you stopped after Hugo was born?”

“Hmm- I finished training the younger housemaids, ‘twas my time to retire,” The housekeeper quickly answered with an amused laugh and smile before she went back to what she wanted to say: “Anyway- ya could see that she wasn’t made for the path she’d have to take as a lady. Followin’ a husband and other men without a word, livin’ for high expectations, go on gatherings but no adventures… Her mother wasn’t made for that too, she’s the most noble and independent lady I’ve known. But she was only lucky that Sir Robert let ‘er be the way she was, ‘cos he loved her the way she was. And Amicia-”

The servant paused and showed Melie a soft smile “-Truly is lucky to have found ya, to have ya by her side. She has everythin’ she wants with ya, y’know? Freedom and love. She dreamed of that since she was small- always has been the dreamy romantic. And still seems to be.”

Melie was silent after the housekeepers speech, gladly she finished peeling before, because now she was too struck by that information to do anything besides sitting on the stool with an agape mouth, lost in her thoughts which worked all the new aspects of this revelation in. 

And the housekeeper decided to let her take all the time she needs for thinking, taking the rest of the potatoes while deciding and watching Melie for a few seconds from time to time.

* * *

And so their conversation died. The housekeeper went back to quietly humming her song from before while preparing today’s meal, and Melie still thought about everything. Now with the new view, the thief started to feel dumb for thinking that leaving was a good solution, or a solution at all.   


It took minutes until Melie’s thoughts were finally all sorted out and she was able to give the housekeeper a proper response: “D… D’you really think that…? I mean- I never really thought of it like that… “

“It’s only natural, one thinks that the wealthy and noble are simply lucky and don’t have their problems. Not famine- nor sickness… but their own burdens. And to be fair- I thought so too ‘till I started working for the De Rune’s, or rather for Sir Robert even before he started courting the noble lady. Thought that he’d be a horrible person- greedy, not caring; we poor know the prejudices we have, eh?”

The housekeeper grinned slightly when she got a nod and soft laugh from Melie as a response before she continued while laughing as well: “And we two, young lady, can also tell how wrong we were in the De Rune’s case. They’re kind to everyone who’s not disrespectful, a trait barely anyone truly has.”

“Oh we really were-” Melie laughed even more and nodded in agreement, grinning happily at the old woman after a bit of time passed “Ya really know them well, don’t ya?”

“Over 20 years of working for a family indeed makes ya know them well, and make the children see ya as a part of their family too,” The housekeeper nodded and smiled softly back, “So trust this old lady here when she says that Amicia couldn’t be happier anywhere else. And ya can also trust me when I say that ya should talk to her about it... tell her what was on your mind.”

Melie’s amusement died at the last sentence, worry and a little bit of panic spreading in her mind as she blinked in disbelief: “I can’t tell her that…! ‘twas stupid of me to think so, what would she think of me if I told her that I believed that?”

“Ya may be assuming the worst, that she’d think lower of ya, don’t yer think so?”, The housekeeper only stopped talking to get a response from Melie, a slow nod in this case, before she continued: “But don’t immediately assume that, dear. Y’know… a good relationship is only good if it’s built on trust and honesty, no matter what kind of relationship. It ain’t bad, not at all, to be honest about your fears… ‘cos-”   


While she spoke, she slowly trailed through the room, to the cattle and back to the counter while being watching with anxious looks from Melie. At her ‘Cos’ she turned around to face the thief with one of her motherly smiles, seemingly typical for her: “’Cos ya never know if she ain’t worrying about the same thing. Ya both are very well aware of your different heritages. Yer worried about not being good enough for her and making her upset with it… but did’ya ever think of that the little lady might worry that yer not comfortable with this kinda life, with bein’ so close to this higher class? Or that it ain’t what ya wanted in life and get upset ‘bout it?”

The way the old woman stressed ‘might’ during her speech and the knowing smile she gave her at the end made Melie realize that the housekeeper wasn’t just speculating; she knew that Amicia had the same worries as the thief and tried to make the two talk about it with this indeed very obvious hint. So she sighed softly and looked at the housekeeper in front of her with an unsure smile: “Guess it really would be the best then, huh…? Will just have to see how-” 

Melie stopped talking and blinked when she noticed the housekeeper looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk, making the thief laugh with it, “Hey! I swear I’ll do that!”

“So no more running away? Wonderful,” Now the housekeeper laughed once more, not being able to keep the smirk up for too long.

“Yeah- promise that I won’t think of something stupid like that again… looks like your smack knocked some sense into me- usually it did quite the opposite,” Melie shrugged her shoulders at the end when she thought back to her father and how he treated her and Arthur, and to how she has more reasons now to be glad about running away from him.

The housekeeper first looked at her with a concerned look and wanted to ask further, but decided against it when she got a mumbled “Just a shitty poor father, y’know?” from Melie before she could say anything, realizing that it was Melie’s hint of not wanting to talk about him.   


The thief sighed relieved when she saw that the older woman nodded at her before going back to the cattle, fully concentrated on her working again. So Melie decided to watch her, it was relaxing in a way, and even offered a bit of help here and there which was gladly accepted from the housekeeper’s side.

This went on for a while and both women enjoyed talking more, or rather the housekeeper telling old stories while Melie gladly listened, while preparing the meal together.

“Oh the little lady was always on the run. Y’know when she was just 6- she was bored one day and saw Lady Beatrice walking towards her laboratory. So of course, like every other child, she sneaked into the laboratory. And oh was everyone surprised that she only got caught when she decided to sneak up on her mother and scare her-” The housekeeper was just merrily telling one of her favorite stories about little Amicia’s adventures when she heard quick foot steps coming closer to them.

“Huh…? Who could be-” Melie wasn’t even able to finish her question and turn around as she was interrupted by a very joyful and also slightly breathless “There you are!”

**_~To be continued~_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And; do you like the old woman? She's like a mom, right?  
> That's on purpose. I at first thought about Melie having that talk with Beatrice, but that wouldn't work out. Ofc I'm sure that they're on rather good terms, but Beatrice most likely is VERY sceptical and worried due to their class difference and the two being girls.   
> So it really wouldn't have helped if Melie told the sceptical Beatrice her worries. And so I decided to give Melie this mother-like figure she can talk to and who she can look a bit up to


	3. The talk

_“Huh…? Who could be-” Melie wasn’t even able to finish her question and turn around as she was interrupted by a very joyful and also slightly breathless “There you are!”_

_**La saisie d'espoir** _

_The talk  
_

There, leaning on the door frame, stood Amicia, still in her nightgown and with a huge smile in her face: “I didn’t know that you’d be awake so early, good morning!”

“G’morning, princess,” Melie didn’t even try to fight the bright smile she automatically got just from Amicia’s smile and voice, “Can say the same back, but I got caught up in a nice little talk with this woman here.” The thief pointed to the housekeeper next to her, never taking her eyes off Amicia while doing so.

Said noble woman blinked surprised at first, now able to realize more of her surroundings than just Melie. She giggled softly and hurried towards the laughing housekeeper, pulling her into a tight hug once she was there: “Camile! I’m sorry I didn’t even notice that you were here as well!”

Camile, the housekeeper, laughed more and shook her head: “Don’t ya worry, dear. I understand that you only had eyes for yer lovely lady.”

She turned her head into Melie’s direction and winked at her, making the thief blush a tiny bit before said thief laughed as well.

“She’s indeed very lovely,” Amicia giggled again before letting go off the housekeeper to softly nudge Melie while grinning at her, “And if Camile calls you lovely then you must have behaved around her, hm?”

Melie immediately grinned back at her and chuckled, not able, nor wanting, to hide the flirty tone in her voice: “’Course~ D’you expect any less of me?”

“Never,” The noble girl started laughing softly when she purposely paused for a few seconds,”Most of the time at least.”

"Hey!"

* * *

The housekeeper leaned against the stone wall while watching the girls’ cheerful teasing with an amused smile. Not wanting to interrupt their little time together, she decided to clean the kitchen a bit to leave the two alone. But of course not without giving Melie one last look with a clear message; ‘Don’t you dare forgetting it’.

Melie nodded and waved after the older woman, knowing that she’ll have to bring it up better sooner than later. For now her attention was not on the upcoming, but on the joyful girl next to her, who pulled her into a tight hug.

“Can’t get enough of me, eh?” remarked Melie with a grin.

Amicia jokingly rolled her eyes and laughed once more while leaning her head against the older girl’s shoulder: “How could I ever get enough of the Fury? I love her after all.”

The thief got a faint blush on her cheeks and her smile got wider as she hugged her lover back, those three words still seemed to give her butterflies in her belly whenever she heard them.

“I love you too, you amazon,” She laughed softly at her choice of words before resting her chin on the noble girl’s head, “But really. How comes you’re awake at this hour? You never voluntarily get up this early.”

“It is quite difficult to continue sleeping when you’re used to someone sleeping next to you; and you hear that someone leaving,” Amicia let out a quiet laugh and tried her best to look up when she softly poked Melie’s cheek at her last words.

But her smile from before faded when she saw how upset Melie’s face got at the remark of her leaving, and she moved her head away to face her with a worried look on her face: “Melie…? Is something wrong?”

“Huh-” The thief was visibly lost in her thoughts as she jumped a bit and blinked at Amicia’s question, answering it with a quiet mumble a few seconds later, “N-no… Everything’s fine.”

But Amicia didn’t believe it as she saw that something was wrong and working in her girlfriend’s mind. She guessed that Melie didn’t want to tell her in front of someone else, even though it wouldn’t be a problem for Melie to speak in front of Camile, but the noble girl didn’t know that of course.

Melie was waiting for an answer, feeling nervous that Amicia might question it more now before she could properly bring that topic up. She didn’t expect Amicia’s reaction though:

Instead of any words or simply a raised eyebrow, the noble girl lightly kissed the thief’s cheek before she took her hand, turning her head to the housekeeper with an amused smile: “Camile, I hope you do not need to borrow my girlfriend and her help any longer so that I can have her back?”

Camile started laughing and shook her head, waving at the girls before her attention was on the cattle: “Oh no, ‘course not. Didn’t want to keep yer lady away for so long~ Have fun ya two!”

The thief watched that scene with a raised eyebrow and slight grin, waving at the housekeeper while saying “See ya later, ma’am!” before she was carefully pulled by Amicia so that they can start walking.

* * *

Their walk upstairs was quiet, but it was a comfortable silence for both of them, even though Melie started wondering how to approach their talk in the best way. She knew Amicia since quite a while now and she also knew that Amicia didn’t want to be alone with her for fun.

Only when Amicia opened the door to their room and walked in, the silence was broken by Melie: “Say… y’know what I always wondered about?”

Melie knew very well that she wasn’t on a way to talk about the dreaded thing with this question, and she also knew that the chance was high for Amicia not wanting to get distracted with that question and go straight to the point. But she decided to calm herself a bit with talking about something else before she would bring it up; and she hoped that that idea will work out.

“Hm? About what?” Amicia turned around to face Melie with a tilted head, of course curious about what was on Melie’s mind.

“How comes that no one here is shocked about us two being a couple?” The thief had to admit that she really asked herself that since the moment their normal life started again as she feared negative consequences if anyone would find out, “And they weren’t even surprised. Y’know usually people would hunt one to death, especially the church, for that.”

The noble girl was a bit surprised as to why Melie brought that up and if it really was what made her so upset, but she guessed that her lover had a reason for asking that now and so she started laughing softly and shrugged her shoulders: “Well… I think Camile already was prepared for me showing up with a girl. Surely she told you a few stories about me… and how annoyed and disgusted I reacted as a little child when my father told me how shouldn’t be so stubborn as I’d have to follow men one day.”

Melie started laughing when she tried to picture Robert De Rune’s reaction and shook her head: “She didn’t tell me that one!”

“That is one of her favorite stories, I’m surprised to see that she did not share it with you yet,” Amicia laughed more before she sat down on the bed, patting on the spot next to her to invite Melie to sit with her while she continued: “In any way- From what I heard years later I complained about how stupid that would be and how I don’t see a reason to follow anyone blindly, especially, and I quote this now-” Amicia interrupted herself with laughing more as she thought about what her child-self said to make every servant on yard bust out laughing.

Melie, who sat on the other end of the same bed side, couldn’t help but to continue laughing, barely able to let out a “Hmm?” to ask her to continue talking as she was curious to know what she said back then.

“Especially- people so incompetent- like the boys of our befriended families- who can’t even put a shirt on by themselves-” The noble girl had to pause multiple times as she was laughing too hard to speak, and the following part was what made Melie almost fall off the bed from basically wheezing at this point, “And honestly- I still fully stand to what I said.”

“Oh- my- god-” The thief almost wasn’t able to talk through her barking laughter, her stomach starting to hurt from laughing so much. Amicia had the same problem; by now she was lying back first on the bed and holding her stomach while laughing.

* * *

It took several minutes until their cheerful laughter has calmed a bit and Melie was able to properly, but breathless, speak again while showing Amicia an amused grin: “How did he react? Your father?”

Amicia, breathless as well but facing Melie with an equally amused grin, let out a quiet laugh: “He probably wished to be mad at me for saying such things as a girl- but he always complained about them either, saying that the noble’s now spoil their boys way too much so that they get spoiled and sappy instead of independent and strong. So he couldn’t do much, other than shaking his head, and hiding his amused laughter and smile with his hand as I later found out.”

“Who would have thought that you were such a bratty child?” The orange haired thief started laughing once more at her joking comment while her grin got bigger.

Amicia responded with a slightly embarrassed laugh and a sheepish grin as she joked back: “I prefer the term: independently thinking at a very young age.”

Both girls laughed cheerfully once more, this time though Amicia was able to recover quite quickly to continue talking.

“I think that was the moment where Camile guessed that this would happen. I mean- she did tell me that she and my parents jokingly made a bet about how it’s more likely that I’ll show up with a girl in my arms than to willingly marry a man and follow him. But it probably wasn’t a bet- but rather her making a not so serious comment towards them.”

“What a wild story, explains why the old hag was actually happy to see us together. Though- Lady De Rune didn’t seem to be amused about it,” Melie shook her head with a laugh at first, but ended up shrugging her shoulder when she remembered how Amicia’s mother searched for a talk with the two on one evening.

Amicia remembered that evening as well and how her mother was a bit unsure how to tell them that she saw them kissing: “I wouldn’t say that- rather surprised and confused.”

“Sure that it’s only that? I mean- y’know she was raised with the believe that it’s wrong, just like we were… and she’s religious, so she knows what those shitheads of the Church say.” Melie tilted her head at Amicia, who nodded and showed her a cheerful smile.

“Mhm, very sure. She might have missed my last few years because of Hugo’s condition… but she surely was no stranger to how I thought about having to follow a man. She probably only guessed that it would be for me like it was for her, she was lucky that my father didn’t mind her stubbornness and will for independence. So of course it was surprising for her, but still guessable,” Amicia let out a soft sigh before she finished speaking with a shoulder shrug:

“So my guess is that she simply doesn’t mind it too much. Maybe she doesn’t like it as much she would have liked the other way… but she knows she can’t get that idea out of my stubborn head anyway. And it is an advantage that she knows you, especially through how you freed her from that cage with such quick and skilled movements that she was actually impressed. And the rest of the servants- I have no idea there. Maybe they don’t mind it because my mother doesn’t. Or they guessed it as well from Camile’s story.”

Melie comfortably listened to Amicia thinking about her guesses while she watched her noble lover talking with a happy smile. Those guesses, even the one with Amicia’s mother, made sense to her and she nodded once Amicia was finished talking.

* * *

A comfortable silence settled in between them and the brunette decided to do the same as her girlfriend, letting herself fall on her back to relax a bit into the sheets. Of course Amicia hasn’t forgotten why she walked here with Melie, and so she turned around after a few minutes to face the thief. She didn’t have to worry about how to start talking about that topic, since Melie saw what she wanted to talk about by the look of her eyes and let out a soft sigh: “You wanna know what was bothering me earlier, right?”

Amicia nodded, her eyes showing worry as she reached out for Melie to carefully grab her hand: “You know that you can tell me everything, Melie… It was impossible to not see how much it worked you up. And I saw that look in your face before as well- but it was gone so quickly then.”

The thief let out another sigh and softly squeezed the noble girl’s hand, whispering a quiet “I know...” before Amicia continued: “It was not about your brother, right? Because then you wouldn’t have gotten that sad… almost guilty look in your eyes when I joked about you leaving. So please tell me, Melie… please tell me what makes your heart so heavy.”

“I...” Melie started speaking without knowing what exactly she wanted to say, and so she stopped. Being quiet for a few seconds before she took a deep breath to start once more: “I’m… worried, y’know? Worried probably doesn’t even hit close to what I feel… it’s just- I’m scared. Scared that I’m not good enough for you… that I’d make you unhappy and upset-”

The thief closed her eyes when she mumbled those words, trying to think of everything she managed to put into words. It was the reason why she didn’t see the apologizing and upset look on Amicia’s face as said noble girl already opened her mouth to comfort Melie, but wasn’t able to let one word out as Melie slowly opened her eyes again and continued to speak, not mumbling anymore.

And with a slow and quiet voice, the thief told Amicia all her worries. From how she knew that she could never give Amicia the high class comfort that the noble girl knows, and in the thief’s eyes more than deserves, and how she feared that this incapability would make the noble De Rune upset. Over to that she feared it so much because she would never want to see something other than a smile on Amicia’s face and that it would break her heart to see her beloved woman upset.

She also told her about how those thoughts worked her up every morning, how they always disappeared in an instant whenever Amicia woke up and greeted her with a cheerful smile. And finally; she told her about how those words hit her this morning and about her, how she called it, ‘Stupid idea’ of leaving, thinking that it would be better than to break Amicia’s heart with staying and failing, and how she was caught by Camile, who smacked some sense into her when she heard that idea.

All of this was said with a lot of struggle and breaks in between, the fear of Amicia’s reaction often making the thief lose her voice and she had to take another deep breath to continue. Her fear was the worst when she was done with letting her heart out, and Amicia didn’t move or respond.

**_~To be continued~_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I was sorry for this cliffhanger- But I'm not. Enjoy the waiting, it'll get cute~


	4. Soft times, but no time for two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter here is gifted to the lovely "impudent_strumpet" who always keeps up with my works and with who I really enjoy talking in the comments! Thanks a lot for that and for your lovely stories!

_Her fear was the worst when she was done with letting her heart out, and Amicia didn’t move or respond._

**La saisie d'espoir/ The grasp of hope**

_Soft times, but no time for two  
_

The thief got more nervous each second, expecting the worst to happen. But she didn’t expect a positive or calm reaction from Amicia.bMelie was so sure that Amicia was upset or even mad at her for thinking so, that she gasped a bit surprised when she noticed Amicia moving over to her and pulling her into one of the tightest hugs she has ever given.

“Oh Melie…” Amicia buried her face into the shoulder of the thief, who couldn’t help but to be speechless and look with an agape mouth at her, “I could never be unhappy with you, not even in the slightest…! You know- We could live on the run, with nothing but ourselves, and I still would be the happiest person alive. Because I don’t really care about the noble things, I saw that I can survive well without those too, even if they surely make life more comfortable. But you… you are important to me, my family too of course… But I chose to be and live with you. And so I apologize-”

Melie began hugging her as equally tight back when she said those comforting words and the thief got a soft smile, which only got replaced by a confused look on her face at Amicia’s apology: “Apologize…? But for what? You didn’t do anything wrong, Amicia.”

“Because I never noticed how much you worried about this. It really worked you up and I could have helped you before if I had known-”

“But you didn’t know it,” Melie interrupted her lover as she shook her head before placing a soft kiss on the noble’s forehead in an attempt to comfort her, “And to be fair, I didn’t notice your worries either. Only know it ‘cos the housekeeper told me when she asked me to tell you that. So if ya really want to apologize for not noticing, then I apologize too.”

“So Camile told you that…?” The brunette blinked confused at first before blushed slightly and moved her head from the shoulder to look into the thief’s face, who nodded at her with a soft smile. Amicia couldn’t help but to start smiling as well at that sight and she shook her head with a soft laugh: “And here one would think that she’d keep it to herself.”

“I’d bet on that she would have told you about my worries the next time you’d talk to her ‘bout it.” Melie started laughing as well, adding the following to her sentence when she saw Amicia nodding quickly in agreement, “Probably to get us off our scared asses and talk to each other… Man looks like we suck at the relationship concept, huh?”

The last part made Amicia bust out laughing as she rolled off her girlfriend to hold her stomach. Every last bit of the heavy worry about this topic was gone as both girls laughed merrily while lying right next to each other; the thief facing the noble girl once the latter managed to speak in between her laughing: “For now- at least. We’re still new- to all of that, it’s been- a mere week after all-”

“We still- can allow ourselves that,” Melie nodded in agreement as she tried her best to say a proper sentence in between her laughing, “Still- must’ve been a pain to watch- the tiptoeing around it. At least- for the old hag.”

“Definitely-” The noble De Rune nodded once more but wasn’t able to finish what she wanted to say as she started coughing from all the laughing.

The thief managed to calm a bit down from the laughter, mostly due to an upcoming hint of worry, as she shook her head with a breathless laugh and carefully rubbed the other girls back: “Easy there-”

It took a few minutes until the coughing was settled down and the brunette’s head dropped into the warm crook of the thief’s neck: “Sorry...”

But the thief simply shook her head again before she pulled the other girl close to herself, “Just be more careful next time, ‘kay? Can’t let you die from choking on your own laughing here.”

Amicia nodded slowly and got an amused smile as she relaxed into Melie: “It would be hell for you to try explaining to others at least, even though it probably would be quite hilarious to watch.”

“Yeah for you, but not for me when I’d have to explain it to your mother,” Melie chuckled softly as she stopped shaking her head to relax into the bed, her chuckling getting louder when she heard Amicia’s giggled “Of course.”

* * *

“Y’know-” After a few moments of calming down the orange haired girl spoke again, a small smile appearing on her face while Amicia tilted her head and turned it to Melie in curiosity, “I think Arthur would have loved to see us.”

The thief’s voice got quieter at the end as she remembered her brother, her eyes getting covered by a dull and sad shadow from knowing that he isn’t there, nor will ever come back. Even though Amicia couldn’t see her eyes as they were locked on the ceiling, she still noticed how much it hurt Melie to not share her happiness with her twin. And so she moved a bit closer to the other girl to pull her into a gentle hug and to lean her head on the thief’s shoulder, as said thief rested her head against the brunette’s and mumbled: “He noticed my liking for girls even before I did… and that I fell in love with you as well.”

She let out an almost bittersweet chuckle when she thought back to Arthur teasing her about her crush and not confessing to Amicia, when said girl was on her way with Lucas to her old home. “You wouldn’t get his proud grin out of his face if he saw us now- and I really wish he could do that...”

“I’m sure that he would have loved that,” Amicia nodded slowly and hugged her lover a bit tighter to comfort her, “But- you can believe that he knows.”

“How?” Melie looked down at Amicia with a confused look on her face, as the burnette let out a soft giggle and as her head moved from the thief’s shoulder to her chest, “When I was little- Camile told me that the dead are still with us, they never leave our hearts. And that they watch us from heaven. Of course one can say that it’s only a children’s story. But that helped me to make my father’s death a bit easier… to believe that he’s still with me and watches me from heaven.”

During her soft mumbling, Amicia moved her head up to look into Melie’s thoughtful face. She saw the way Melie’s lips curled up into a slight grin and what comment lies on the thief’s tongue, and so she shook her head in an amused manner and continued: “Nooo, Arthur is in heaven too. You guys may have stolen-”

“May have? Darling, we looted on a daily basis. And that’s only one point.” Melie couldn’t help but to interrupt Amicia with a barking laugh while shaking her head.

“Not the point I was trying to make-” Amicia started laughing as well, but before she could calm down from laughing and continue elaborating on what she meant she was interrupted by a loud and quick knocking on her door.

Both almost immediately stopped laughing and exchanged a confused look with each other, wondering who it could be. After a mere second of confusion, Amicia got curious and yelled “Come in!”, to which the door immediately bust open and her little brother stormed in with big eyes and an equally big smile.

“Hugo? What are you doing so early-” Again the noble girl was not able to finish her sentence; this time she was interrupted by Hugo’s excited voice instead of her girlfriend’s barking laugh though.

“I heard you guys laughing and wanted to see what is so funny! But Camile said I have to get dressed first! And eat something before I can see you!”

“Nothing really was funny-” Melie began speaking, but had to laugh when she saw Hugo’s tilted head and confused face. And so did Amicia, who’s laughing was slightly calmer, had to continue before Hugo questioned them like a waterfall: “We just remembered old stories and we had to laugh at them.”

“Aww-” His voice sounded disappointed and he looked down, only to shoot his head up with a bright smile a second later, “Can you tell me one of them? I want to laugh too!”

Amicia nodded and moved a bit to the side, so that she now was lying next to her lover and not on her as she held one of her arms out to invite him into a group hug. Of course the little boy joyfully accepted the offer and took a sprint into his sisters arms, who caught him with a groan.

Melie watched the two cuddling and Amicia’s joking remark of Hugo getting too heavy with an amused grin, a hint of sadness appearing in her eyes as an image of her and Arthur as children flashed in her head. Even though the image and the sadness in her eyes only existed for a second, the look still got caught by Amicia and she mouthed a worried “Are you alright?” while Hugo buried his head in her shoulder. The thief answered with a quick nod, of course not feeling too well after being reminded of what she’ll never have again, but she didn’t want to interrupt the happy time the siblings had. And so she mouthed a “Later.” back when Amicia raised her eyebrow at the nodding.

“So what story? What story?” The two girls had to stop their silent communication when Hugo interrupted them with a cheerful smile and giggle, not knowing what he interrupted or even that he interrupted them. But they really couldn’t be mad at him for that and Melie even got infected by the little De Rune’s smile as she couldn’t help but to smile cheerfully as well.

“You remember Camile’s stories?” Amicia started with a soft giggle and ruffled her little brother’s hair, who only tilted his head, needing more information about which story exactly as there exist quite a few. “The one where I made everyone laugh with my complaining about the boys?”

Now Hugo seemed to know which story he meant, as he nodded quickly and let out a happy laugh: “Mhm! She told me that one just yesterday! And she said that your complaining about boys seems to never have.. have stopped!”

“What-” Amicia blinked very irritated and she tilted her head at him, almost overhearing his explanation of “Because you’re with Melie now! And she’s not a boy!” as Melie got that hint before and started wheezing, needing to hold her stomach because she was laughing so much.

After his explanation the noble girl finally understood as well what the housekeeper and she let out a soft chuckle while shaking her head: “Oh did Camile really say that?”

Her little brother nodded quickly again and laughed more thanks to Melie: “Yep! She said that if you stopped complaining about how boys are then you’d be with one now."

Before Amicia could answer to him, Melie’s laughing calmed enough down so that she could grin proudly at Amicia and remark “Oh I’d complain about boys too if I had the choice between them and me in Amicia’s position.”

That comment made all three laugh at the same time and said noble girl couldn’t help but to jokingly roll her eyes and lightly slap the other girl’s shoulder. “Loving you has nothing to do with still complaining about boys; which I totally don’t do anymore!”

“Sure thing, Amicia. Sure thing,” Melie’s grin only got wider and she let out a barking laugh when Amicia whispered “Idiot- I love you” into her ear, making sure that Hugo didn’t hear the soft insult, even though it was just joking, on which followed her way of apologizing to Melie for using such a word for her. The brunette didn’t want to accidentally teach him a curse word like her lover did a few days ago after all.

* * *

Hugo watched the teasing exchange of the girl with a soft laugh, coming from Melie’s first comment, before he got an idea, which made him clap his hands together in excitement. The clapping made the girls turn their now curious faces to him to look into his cheerful face while he jumped of the bed and smiled at them: “How about we visit mommy? Pretty pleeeeease? Camile said she has to work a lot again- we should visit her together! She’ll be happy to see us!”

Even though Amicia wanted to know what made Melie look upset earlier, and of course enjoy their time alone they spent with cuddling a little longer, she couldn’t have said no to Hugo’s puppy eyes. Before she could say anything though in return, Melie sat up and nodded, seeming to have shared the same thought as the brunette, because she commented with a soft laugh: “Fine fine- not that I could have said no anyway if ya keep that look on yer face.”

“Yaay!” The little boy’s smile got even bigger than before and he didn’t even wait for Amicia to sit up as well, as he stormed out of the room with a happy laugh, not even stopping when Amicia cheerfully yelled “Hey! You could at least wait for us!” after him.

Melie watched him leave with an amused grin before she stood up from the bed, stroking over her clothes with one hand while her other reached out to Amicia to help her up: “We should follow him quickly before he arrives without us, hm?”

Amicia pouted while she thankfully took her lover’s hand to get up. Her eyes were full of worry as she started with “Melie…”, but said thief quickly shook her head: “Later, princess. It’s alright, really.”

“You know that I don’t believe you, right?” The noble brunette let out a soft sigh and carefully squeezed her lover’s hand, who nodded slowly in return.

“Mhm, I know… but trust me, will you? It’ll be alright until we can talk,” Melie showed Amicia a soft smile after she placed a light kiss on her temple, “So calm down now, don’t wanna keep your brother waiting even longer.”

“Yeah yeah, we won’t let him wait for too long,” The noble girl smiled softly back and squeezed her hand once more, not leaving the room without giving her lover a warning look and, after letting out a chuckled “But we will talk about it, promise?”, a quick kiss on her lips; to which she got a joking roll of the thief’s eyes as a response: “Won’t forget it, don’t worry, milady.”

“I’m just worried about you-” Amicia leaned against her as they slowly started walking, the thief resting her head on her girlfriend’s as she responded with a whispered “I know… you care so much about me- And I really love you for that.”

“I love you too,” The noble girl whispered as equally quiet back as a soft and happy smile rested on her face while they were on their way to catch up with Hugo, who was eagerly waiting for them.

_**~To be continued~** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've successfully reached my goal of this story already, with writing at least 10k words for this. But I still have an important part to write before this story ends, so enjoy your waiting for the final chapter of: "The grasp of hope"


	5. The grasp of hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look what I did instead of sleeping, I finished writing this story... It's 1 am now. (Yes that's directed to the lovely writer who keeps on uploading nice apti one shots instead of sleeping :D)
> 
> And so, for a last time in this fanfiction, I shall wish you all a sweet reading experience~

_“I love you too,” The noble girl whispered as equally quiet back as a soft and happy smile rested on her face while they were on their way to catch up with Hugo, who was eagerly waiting for them._

**La saisie d'espoir/ The grasp of hope**

_The grasp of hope  
_

Once Amicia and Melie reached Hugo, he already ran through the door onto the huge yard. The girls could only shake their head in an amused manner as they followed him in a much slower pace.

“C’mon! Amicia! Melie!” Hugo turned around to face them while he was running. Not watching his steps anymore, the girls were about to yell at him to be careful before he’d trip over a branch or something similar, but in that moment the little boy already bumped into Lucas, who was hurrying around the corner and let out a surprised gasp at meeting Hugo instead of a free way.

“Hugo! Lucas! Are you alright?” One could barely tell a word apart as the noble girl and the thief shouted different questions at the same time, but the worried look on both of their faces showed that they were concerned.

“Y-yeah-” Lucas shook his head in an irritated manner before he looked at the two girls and nodded. Meanwhile Hugo let out a quiet “Ow…” while rubbing his head, but he too seemed rather surprised than hurt.

Amicia sighed in relief as she put her free hand on her chest, while Melie started chuckling and shaking her head: “Be more careful next time, y’two. We can’t give the Lady a heart attack with seeing her bandaged up son when she still has to rest a lot.”

Lucas nodded once more, but before he could voice his agreement as well, he was interrupted by an excited Hugo: “Talking about mommy, we were about to see her! Mommy will be happy to see us! Come with us!” And Amicia immediately caught up on Hugo’s sentences, looking at Lucas while not giving the 12-year old boy a chance to reply to her little brother: “How is mother doing? Camile told us that she’s already buried into work again, even though she still is not fully recovered. Is she at least taking breaks?”

The thief was kind enough to not ask even more questions but instead let the teenage boy take a deep breath before replying to the siblings, even though she was very curious about the older noble woman’s condition as well.

“Don’t worry Amicia, she’s not really working. Well I couldn’t stop her from seeing the condition of her laboratory- and once she saw her books she already was about to write everything of the macula and the potion down… at least I could ask her to wait until yesterday,” Lucas let out a soft sigh and shrugged his shoulders while explaining the current situation, yet he still got a proud smile as he continued, “And Lady Beatrice even accepted my help! At first she wanted to see how much I can do and what she still has to teach me, but she seems satisfied with my progress. I’m allowed to mix potions with her orders and her saying what to do next while she sits most of the time and extends her notes to rest herself.”

His smile got a bit wider when he watched the noble girl and saw relief crashing the wall of worries on her face, only averting his gaze when he felt a tuck on his tunic, coming from Hugo, who seemed to await an answer: “Oh yeah, we can visit her of course! I just need to get something out of her studies first, can you wait for me here?”

And with that, he showed the little De Rune a quick smile before he hurried once more, making his way to the estate. Amicia shouted a “Be careful on your way!” after him, while Melie watched Hugo nodding and sitting down on the ground with an amused grin: “So you can wait for Lucas but not for us? Mean.”

“Whaaat? Nooo, I’m not mean! I’m not!” Hugo didn’t seem to have noticed Melie’s amusement as he looked at the older girl with widened eyes before shaking his head.

And while Melie was laughing loudly, Amicia only shook her head and let go of her dear lover’s hand, not able to hide her soft smile, as she let out a much softer laugh and hugged the thief from behind “Melie, don’t tease Hugo too much. You know that he still cannot grasp irony.”

“Just having a little bit of fun, wouldn’t have overdone it, I swear,” Melie’s laughing didn’t calm in any way as she rested her head against her girlfriend and continued to grin.

“Why am I not believing it?” Amicia’s smile turned into a slight grin and she carefully nudged the older girl.

“Dunno,” A soft chuckle escaped the thief’s lips and her grin turned into a smirk, “Maybe you should tho~ I totally would have been nice to Hugo.”

Said boy only watched the girls teasing with a tilted head and confused look on his face. He was at first about to protest at Amicia’s remark of him not understanding irony, as he was very sure that he knows what it means and that he can tell when it’s used, but Melie immediately answered her and the girls concentration went from Hugo to each other. He seemed to have gotten enough of the little banter, where the faces of the two were getting closer each time one replied to the other, and the very small distance was more than enough for any child to watch and so he let out a childishly disgusted “Eww, Amicia! Don’t kiss in front of me…!”

“Don’t ruin the mood,” Melie could only pout as her voice showed visible disappointment as the two girls shot apart in surprise. Amicia was blushing as she nudged her girlfriend once more and quickly gave her a warning glance before turning to her little brother “Sorry…”

Hugo had the same pout as Melie on his face, but he didn’t reply to either of them because he saw Lucas running, in the pace his rather nonathletic body allowed him to, towards them and therefore happily waved at the 12 year old. Once the apprentice reached the small group, he needed to take a few deep breaths while wheezing “I- I’m here again. We- we can go now-” out.

Amicia watched the exhausted boy with a caring smile and put a hand on his shoulder: “You know you didn’t have to run a marathon back to us. I think Hugo could have waited a minute longer without a problem, right Hugo?”

As the noble De Rune mentioned Hugo, she turned her head to him with a saying look, to which he nodded silently, immediately clapping his hands after it though while happily exclaiming “But now we can visit mommy!”, his priority seemingly visiting his mother and not the exhausted Lucas. That obvious hint of his priority made everyone laugh softly and nod in agreement before the group finally continued its way to the roman baths and Beatrice De Rune.

* * *

“Mommy! Mommy!”

The excited shouts of Hugo made Beatrice look up from her stack of papers in surprise, and as she turned her body around to face her son instead of showing him her back, she saw him running towards her while Amicia, Lucas, and to her surprise Melie as well, followed him in a much slower and relaxed walk. Beatrice’s surprised look turned into a soft smile as she opened her arms to embrace the little boy. “Hugo…!”, she smiled at him as she softly said his name before she looked up to the rest of the group, her smile never leaving her face, “Amicia- Melie. What are you three doing here?”

While Lucas immediately went to one of the many tables to continue his work and therefore didn’t participate any further in the conversation, Hugo beamed at his mother: “We wanted to see you, mommy!”

And Amicia added onto Hugo’s answer with a small nod: “We wanted to see if you’re feeling well and doing better, mother.”

“I see…” Beatrice nodded slowly before letting out a soft sigh, “Thank you, my dear children. But please don’t worry, I’m doing better than before thanks to Lucas help. Laurentius indeed chose the right apprentice, I was impressed to see how far he is at this age. With his help I surely can make a strong potion to regain my strength faster.”

Her daughter let out a relieved sigh as she leaned against Melie, who carefully pat her back in a reassuring manner with an equally relieved smile. An action, which of course was not unseen by Beatrice De Rune. The older woman couldn’t deny that she still was quite irritated by the affection and closeness between the two girls whenever she saw them. And even though she didn’t fully approve the relationship, she still was happy for her daughter. But whenever she wondered if she would have wished for Amicia to marry a noble man, she always was torn apart: ‘ _Of course that is how it should have gone’_ Was what Beatrice always thought. _‘The safer option too- no. Not the safer. Only God knows how her suitor would have been.’_

Her inner conflict always started with the only argument in favor for that, but she just had to think of Amicia, and the free mind she inherited of her mother, to know that Amicia couldn’t have found a better fate. And the noble woman knew deep down that that was what she had wished the most for her daughter; to keep her happiness and free mind, like Beatrice was able to with her deceased husband.

The alchemist also couldn’t deny that she wasn’t as surprised or even shocked as she should have been when she took a walk through the wasteland of a garden a few days ago and caught her daughter kissing the thief. Through the years she unintentionally kept Camile’s betting words of ‘Amicia showing up with a woman one day’ in the back of her mind, which immediately showed up in her head as she was struck by irritation at that sight. She only was very worried and unsure about how to approach the topic of her knowing, later regretting asking Camile for advice as the housekeeper turned out to be no help with laughing and exclaiming _“Told yer!”_ at her.

Beatrice was deeply lost into her memories and inner monologue that she didn’t notice how her eyes rested on Melie with a thoughtful look. Said thief watched the noble lady with a raised eyebrow for a few minutes before she decided to clear her throat, inquiring the older brunette with a curious “Lady De Rune- Want to share your thoughts with us? It seems that my sight made you think of something.” Her voice had a faint cynical hint, well hidden under her curiosity; she still had her doubts about Amicia’s mother only being slightly irritated by the relationship, so her first guess was that the noble woman had negative thoughts, which unintentionally gave Melie’s thoughts a hint of bitterness, and therefore her voice a cynical tone.

The approached lady flinched a bit before blinking and looking up, only now realizing that she stared at the young thief for so long “Pardon- I did not mean to stare at you, Melie. I’m surprised myself that I seemed to have gotten lost in reviewing what has happened so far, and wondering about certain outcomes.”

She showed the two girls a quick smile at her last words, making it obvious that she hinted at their relationship. But her smile was genuine and kind, not a trace of any negative feelings about the two seemed to have plagued her mind, or those thoughts were too far away behind the relief of seeing her daughter lively to be shown in her smile.

Melie paid a lot more attention to the smile and choice of words than her lover did, trying to find out if Amicia was right about her mother’s view; and much to her relief she noticed no bitterness or disapproval behind the kind smile, and so she automatically leaned against Amicia while nodding her head “I see.”

The younger noble watched the calm, at first cool, exchange with a hint of worry, which quickly vanished when she noticed her girlfriend relaxing into her shoulder. She didn’t want any uneasy and awkward silence rising up in between the group, so after it got quiet she quickly turned to her mother with a slight smile: “Mother, you said that you and Lucas are working on a potion for your health?” At Beatrice’s slight nod she continued: “How far did you two come?”

The questioned lady smiled softly and turned her head to Lucas, who was eagerly reading in a book, next to him multiple vials: “We’ve made a good progress before I sent him to get the distilled water out of Hugo’s room. I think we will be able to finish it tomorrow- maybe even this evening if everything works out well.”

From behind, Lucas let out a soft yet proud laugh “I think tomorrow, Lady De Rune. You still need to get a lot of rest, so it’s best if we don’t work through the whole day.”

“Not that Camile would approve it either. She’s preparing a soup since early morning, and I’m sure that she would be upset if any of us would forget about lunch,” Amicia nodded quickly in agreement and her mother let out a cheerful laugh:

“Oh Camile- She wouldn’t be upset; she indeed would come and get us without a second thought so that no one misses out any meal. I remember how she had to walk here every day to remind me to eat because I was quite concentrated on my work. If she saw how much I worked on Hugo’s cure- I don’t think I would have missed out a meal then, even if she would have had to bring them into his room.”

The whole group had to laugh at imagining a young adult Beatrice, who followed Camile with a slight pout on her face due to being interrupted in her work. Cheerful laughing echoed through the laboratory for a while, until Hugo lightly tucked onto his mother’s clothes with a bright smile while exclaiming: “Mommy! Can I watch you and Lucas? Please please please?”

Just like the two girls before, Beatrice now had a hard time to even think about saying no to the big eyes of her son combined with his excited bright smile. “Hugo… It’s very dangerous in a laboratory, you know? I don’t want you to get hurt-” With a soft sigh, she placed her hand on his hair, but he quickly shook his head before she could continue: “I won’t get hurt, mommy, I promise. And I watched Lucas too and it was always fun! I never hurt myself then.”

His voice was filled with pride and the older people in the room couldn’t help but to smile softly at his excitement. Beatrice too couldn't hide her soft smile and she finally nodded, showing her approval to which he cheerfully clapped his hands, while she turned her gaze to her older daughter and her daughter's girlfriend: “I assume that you do not want to stay?”

Both girls nodded slightly and Amicia was the one to respond to her: “Yes, we were planning on taking a walk and talk for a bit after we visited you. If that is alright with you, that is.”

“Of course, I have no reason to stop you two. We’ll see each other at lunch then.” The older woman nodded as well and her smile widened when Amicia let go of Melie’s hand to walk over to her mother to give her a light hug, careful not to hurt her with accidentally touching any of her wounds.

“Yes, we’ll see each other again there. Please don’t work too much,” Amicia stayed in the hug for a few more seconds, feeling how Beatrice immediately hugged her back, before she let go of her to join her lovers side once more. With waving everyone as a good bye, they left the laboratory in the same slow walk as they entered it.

* * *

The two lovers were walking in silence for several minutes, strolling through the gray and deceased leftovers of the once beautiful garden. It wasn’t until they reached the center of the yard, where they stopped walking and Amicia turned around to face Melie, never letting go of her hand for even one second: “Now we’re alone…”

“Yeah…” Melie nodded slowly as she watched Amicia’s face, knowing the look on her girlfriends face and what will follow now. But before she could say more, Amicia spoke once more: “So what was on your mind earlier? I saw the sadness in your eyes… even if it was just one second- I still want to be there for you if anything pains you.”

“It’s just...” The thief started mumbling and stopped in hesitation. She knew that she can tell her girlfriend everything and she trusted her blindly in telling her about what’s on her mind, yet she had no idea how to word the thought and memory that went through her mind back then, “I- I just got reminded of Arthur and me… as little kids when I saw you and Hugo. Kinda actively reminded me of his death and that we can’t cuddle or joke around like we used to-”

Amicia’s look immediately softened and was full of sympathy at the mentioning of Arthur, putting an arm around Melie to pull her closer as she finished her mumbling. Her voice showed how unsure she was of finding the right way of answering, as it was slow and quiet, filled with hesitation: “I can only guess how much it hurt you to get reminded of that… I’m sorry, Melie.. If you want to then I can make sure to-”

Melie quickly shook her head, guessing that Amicia was about to propose the idea of hiding the hugging until it doesn’t hurt as much. And she knew that it was everything but an idea with much sense, and so she showed her a soft, but faintly sad, smile: “Hey- I’ll just need time, that’s all. Y’know not hugging Hugo in front of me won’t make the pain easier, it’ll only upset him-”

She stopped talking when she saw her lover’s surprised and confused face, and her soft smile turned into a slight grin when Amicia breathed out a “H-how…? How did you even guess I was about to say that…?”

“I just know ya too well by now,” Was all that the thief smugly replied before she continued where she had stopped, “Besides- it’s been a mere week since he died… almost everything here hurts and reminds me of him. Doesn’t matter if you hide that one thing, even tho it’s a cute thought… Time will do its job. Will just take a long while… and until then, all I can do is trying to work with it.”

Melie leaned more into Amicia’s hug as she spoke slowly and as the other girl held her close to herself. She was quiet at first, thinking about a comforting reply while she leaned her head against the thief’s, her thoughts seeming to not be cheerful as she let out a soft sigh: “Still- it hurts seeing you in pain and not being able to lift that weight off your shoulders with you… and being reminded of him at everything you see- it must be even more painful to deal with-”

The noble girl bit her lip as she paused, a deep sigh escaping her lips, which caught Melie’s attention who now looked at her with a questioning look and tilted head. But before the thief could express her worry, Amicia stuttered out what was on her mind: “Y-you know… if you need a break… then you can always take one- from everything that pains you… Because I want to see you happy again. And I know- that it’s hard to get over a loved one’s death if you always have it around you.”

Melie’s eyes widened at Amicia’s words and she immediately shook her head. Even though she was just considering it this morning, after the talk with Camile and Amicia she was more than sure that she won’t and couldn’t leave. And so she hugged more onto her lover as she looked at her with a serious expression: “Amicia, I’m not going to leave you- and you know that. It’s not like I could anyway-”

She wasn’t able to keep her serious look up for too long, just looking at Amicia’s slight, yet unsure from concern, smile of her answer made her gaze softened up. With a soft smiling back and a peck on her girlfriend’s cheek she continued: “If I know one thing for sure now, then it’s that I need time- and you by my side. ‘Cos you may not believe it, but you already help me more than anything else in trying to deal with Arthur being dead, just with bein’ with me… giving me something in my life to hold onto and not get lost. I was an idiot for thinking that we both would get hurt less if I leave, it would hurt more than everything else.”

Amicia’s smile got wider and softer as she listened to Melie’s words, her hug getting tighter as she leaned against her and thought again, still eager to find a way to give Melie a break from everything if it gets too much. Just as the thief was finished and leaned more against the noble girl in return, said noble’s soft smile turned into a satisfied one as she thought of an idea, which seemed to be the best in her eyes. And so she slowly moved her head up, the movement making the thief move her own head slightly irritated up as well, while Amicia smiled at her: “And I’m still going to try everything to be the best help for you that I can be, even if being with you already does a lot. You know that I’m always going to stay by your side, Melie. And that I want to be there for you just like you are for me. And- and I think I know something to help you...”

Melie tilted her head at the end, her eyes being full of curiosity as she wanted to know what Amicia thought of, the soft smile she got from her loving words fading due to her confusion. But Amicia only let out a soft giggle at the sight of her girlfriend and she completely pulled away from the hug to take her lover’s hand, purposely not telling her her idea: “Come with me, I want to show you something.”

* * *

“Where the hell are we?”

Melie looked around the unfamiliar environment as she walked next to a smiling Amicia, feeling more than uneasy and alarmed as they walked through the dead black forest, the ground being covered in rotten leaves while the trees barely had any on their branches. She didn’t like it here, yet her girlfriend still seemed more than relaxed.

“Just wait and you’ll see,” Amicia giggled softly and turned her head around for a few seconds to smile softly at the thief before she concentrated on where to go again. Both of them showed no hint of exhaustion or even panted slightly, even though they jogged, almost ran, the whole way here to still make it back in time.

But Melie wasn’t calmed by Amicia’s soft smile in any way; she stayed alarmed while mumbling quietly: “I don’t like this place, Amicia...”

The addressed noble girl didn’t respond to her, nor did she seem to even have noticed that Melie said something as her eyes scanned the environment for a specific thing. And once she found what she searched for, she let out a happy squeal “Oh look!” while running over to a thin tree, or what was remaining of it. And before Melie couldn’t question at what she was supposed to look, she already was pulled over to said tree with a black ribbon tied around it.

“We’re on the right way!” The brunette chirped before she took a closer look, her voice now full of amazement, “And look how it didn’t even get a scratch...”

“What is that even…?” The thief tilted her head as she inspected the tree and its ribbon, not understanding what it stood for and therefore being quite irritated at Amicia’s excitement, until said girl turned around to her with a bright smile and explained why she was so happy about seeing it: “I always use this tree as a marker, you’ll see what for once we’re there~ But it’s not only so important because of that- it also has a special meaning to my parents, well, now to my mother, you know?”

“Oh? It does?” Now Melie’s curiosity was awakened and she turned her head away from the tree to look at Amicia, “What meaning does it have to them?”

“Father always had a smile on his face whenever we passed this tree-” Amicia got a soft, almost dreamy smile when she remembered the story behind it, “Because he courted mother at this exact spot. And as a sign to remember this special place, mother tied this bow around this tree, so that they can always find it again.”

The young thief got a soft smile as well as she listened to her girlfriends explanation, chuckling softly as she turned her head to the tree once more: “That’s cute in a way… and that he still was so happy about seeing it, even after all those years. Guess they did love each other a lot, hm?”

“Oh they really did… I’m sure of it,” Amicia nodded slowly in agreement as she still had her dreamy smile on her face.

Silence settled in between the two, but only for a few short moments. The curiosity hit Melie once more, this time about their destination. And so she softly squeezed her lover’s hand, to get her attention again before asking her “But where did you want to go with me now, if it’s not this place?”

Amicia couldn't help but to giggle at how eager Melie was on finding out, “I’ll show you, just wait.” before she started walking slowly with her again. Now Melie was by far more relaxed than when they first entered the forest, and as she leaned against her lover, she noticed how much quicker everything seemed to pass by even though they had the same pace of walking as before.

After a few minutes of a silent walk, the forest’s density decreased and revealed a small plateau, on which stood a lonely, decayed and damaged apple tree. “Impressive-” Was all that Melie got out while looking around the plateau her eyes being locked on the tree once she looked at it, filled with visible amazement at how it still looked majestic despite the huge traces of the Bite and its following decay.

“Mhm...” Amicia’s reply was a mere breathing out as she carefully stepped over to the apple tree, her free hand tracing the dark or destroyed bark, “I’m glad to see that it still stands…”

Melie turned her head around to watch her girlfriend’s action, the way of how careful Amicia touched the tree made her wonder: “Looks like that tree has a special meaning to you?”

The noble De Rune girl faced the thief with a soft smile and a quick nod “Maybe not as special as my parents’ tree- but it was planted at my birth… and so it still has its important meaning to me.”

“I see...” Melie nodded slightly as her eyes were locked on the place where Amicia’s hand rested on the tree, a soft chuckle escaping her lips as she thought of the story Amicia told her a few minutes ago, “So this tree is what you wanted to show me?”

“Indeed- I remembered how I often visited this tree with my dog… and sometimes with my father. And how I stayed here for hours, away from the few troubled emotions of my home, just relaxing and thinking about the world,” Amicia smiled more as she hummed and took a few steps towards the thief to hug her, “And since I think it’s good if you have a place to go to if everything overflows… I wanted to show you this tree, and hope that it can help you in a way that it helped me.”

“Amicia...” Melie breathed out as she hugged tightly onto her, before she shook her head even though she had a huge smile on her face, “You really didn’t have to do that- But I’m thankful… I’m more than thankful for you caring so much about me- that you even offer me to come here, to a place which has such a special meaning to you.”

“Of course, Melie,” The noble girl let out a soft and happy laugh as she held her girlfriend close to herself, “You’re more than special to me, you know? So you shouldn’t be surprised at how I share my special place with you, especially to help you in this time with everything that’s possible.”

“You’re too good,” Melie let out a soft sigh before she showed Amicia a proud grin, “But I know that I’d do the same for you- probably would even try to move the whole world. Seems like it’s one of the things where we perfectly fit together.”

Amicia started giggling at the grin and nodded quickly in agreement: “We fit perfectly together in general, and I really love how it works between us. And now- now we even have a special place together.”

“Just like your parents, hm?” The thief started chuckling once more as Amicia’s giggling turned into a happy laugh and the latter cheerfully exclaimed, “Yes, just like them! You know- we could also mark it just like them!”

“Glad to see that we have the same idea,” Melie smiled proudly at her cheerful girlfriend as she undid the scarf she used to use as a mask, “I won’t be needing this anymore I think… so why not use that?”

“Sounds good,” Amicia nodded quickly as she already spotted a quite intact branch on the apple tree, “Can you help me a bit up? The most intact branch is a bit too high to safely tie it while standing on the ground.”

The thief nodded in confidence at her and so the two went onto achieving their task. It turned out to be a bit more difficult than they guessed at first, as they had to be careful to not break any branches or scratch off any bark. But after a few minutes Melie was able to let her girlfriend slip out of her arms and into a happy hug, as both laughed joyfully and Amicia showed the thief a bright smile: “We’ve done it! So let’s hope that it stays there at least as long as mother’s bow stays around their tree.”

“With how tightly you tied my scarf around the branch, I’m sure that nothing can ever remove it, not even the strongest wind,” Melie let out a soft laugh as she quickly glanced up to their piece of work.

The brunette nodded quickly and glanced up as well before her gaze wandered over to Melie again and she hugged her even tighter than before. Said thief at first was surprised by the sudden tight hug, but her surprised look quickly turned into a happy smile as she held her close with a happy laugh.

“I’m so lucky to have you, you know?” Was what Amicia broke the silent moment of their tight hug with, and Melie couldn't help but to laugh once more and show her a proud grin: “Well what am I supposed to say then? If you feel lucky to be with me then I don’t even have a word to say how happy and lucky I am.”

“Maybe we both can’t even find a word,” Amicia smiled brightly at Melie’s grin, “I mean- with what would have awaited me if I never met you… and what life would have given you- I think it’s the best to happen.”

“Wouldn’t wish for any other outcome or change of an earlier decision in life,” the thief nodded as her grin turned into a soft smile, her forehead resting against her lover’s as she continued in a soft whisper, “Not if meant to not end up in where we are now, together.”

The noble girl closed her eyes as their foreheads rested against each other and she whispered as equally soft back: “I never would want to change a thing either… it mean a lot to me… to be with you, and to always stay by your side.”

“And I’ll always stay by your side…” Melie’s soft whisper was barely audible even to Amicia. But she still understood it perfectly, and she knew that her lover would understand her just as good when her soft voice lowered as well, now being a mere breathing out of “I love you, Melie.”

“I love you too, Amicia.”

And with those soft words leaving her mouth, Melie sealed her lips with Amicia’s to kiss her under their very own special place. Their place of hope for a new, joyful life at each other’s side; until the end of time.

_**~The end~** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it finally is; the end of this story. I started writing it without having a set end in mind. It was only when I played the game and the scene of Hugo's missing pendant was shown, that I remembered the apple tree and got the idea of Amicia taking Melie on a walk through the forest where Amicia tells her the story of her mothers ribbon before the two put a ribbon around the apple tree, and as the end, kiss under it.
> 
> Though- I think the idea, or rather inspiration, for this story is the actual surprising (and weird) fun fact. It was- when I ate lunch together with my parents, mom made chicken. And as I pulled the meat off the bone I had this image of a maid making chicken stew as Melie talks with her. On that followed how that would be possible, answer was that Melie had to stay with them...  
> Aaaand the end of that moment: I jumped up from the table and fetched my phone to write the story idea down.


End file.
